Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will start by addressing the question of the horse racing industry and, particularly, the greyhound racing industry.While we are not a party, the Civil Engagement Group has been active in challenging some of the practices related to the funding of that industry and the animal welfare issues in the industry. Some have been addressed by rehoming but there are substantial issues with overbreeding and exporting of greyhounds, which have not been addressed.

We are here to talk about gambling and I am going to talk about the money. There was heated debate about the horse and greyhound racing funding last year. There was an increase to the greyhound sector of €2.4 million. Some €96 million goes to this area which, as a previous speaker said, uses up the entire betting levy. We need to be clear that none of the betting levy goes to anything else except right back in to those industries. Other issues about horse and greyhound racing have been aired but when we look to financial issues related to gambling, let us look to this year. This is important. What has happened this year? For many families, it has been devastating. There have been reports of increased rates of unemployment, bankruptcy and problem gambling associated with increased alcohol use and mental health issues. Those are concerns for families this year. It has been a hard year for many people.

Financially, it has been a good year for the gambling industry. Flutter, which owns Paddy Power, Betfair and others, has seen an increase in its earnings of €1.4 billion, a 23% increase in its overall earnings. The company that owns Ladbrokes has seen a 25% increase from its online operations. While the betting shops may be down on revenue, let us be clear that the gambling industry has treated this year as a bonanza of access online. In 2020, where profits increased so substantially, we saw the Government give a €50,000 relief to bookmakers from their paltry 2% betting duty. For context, that betting levy has gone down from 10% in 1999. As Senator Gavan said, it is not like we are standing still. We have been moving backwards, from a 10% levy on betting in 1999, which went back down to 1% and then crept back up to 2%, but then we took €50,000 in tax relief out of that too. That is the financial treatment that we have had for the gambling industry in this period, at a time when families have been in significant crisis. We have seen the increased use, advertising and relentless promotion of online gambling.

When we talk about Covid and the cost of the betting industry, let us also talk about all those events that were happening for betting purposes. I know others may have forgotten, but I have not forgotten Cheltenham last year, or the Covid spike and the coronavirus hotspots that came after Cheltenham, and the push for Cheltenham to continue, and the reluctance to send strong signals against that. We have seen races take place behind closed doors in order to maintain betting. This is not about sports that are happening behind closed doors but sports that are specifically and deeply tied to the gambling industry.

We were speaking to an addiction counsellor who said it is heartbreaking that the gambling regulator will not be in place for two years because Covid-19 has created the perfect storm for people with betting problems. I appeal to the Minister of State to please not let the appointment of a gambling regulator be postponed until 2023. I ask him to hear what we have been telling him, not just about gambling as a problem overall, but about this year and the moment we are at now, where there is an industry that has made much money and many people who are in distressed and difficult situations.We must make sure there is not more of the same in 2022. We have to protect people. There has been mention of the heartbreak caused by gambling. We must ensure hearts and families are no longer broken by this. Senator Boylan and others have spoken about the impact of gambling. I know people who have lost their homes. Things like that are not a rare exception. They happen quite frequently. There are also all the other losses in terms of time, relationships, all the essentials of life and opportunities for other family members. There is a huge impact on children. My colleague, Senator Black, who works with the RISE Foundation, has spoken about the impact of gambling addiction on families and the next generation.

Other speakers have pointed to the lack of online regulation of gambling advertising as a major issue. That lack of regulation means we are getting all-hours and all-locations advertising, which is a concern. We know we can take action to address this, as we did when we placed constraints in legislation on the advertising and sale of alcohol. It is something that needs to be done very soon, before the end of the year, in order that, by 2022, we are looking at a different situation in terms of online, radio and television advertising of gambling.

Another point to consider, which was made very eloquently by a couple of speakers, is to do with our relationship with sport. The idea of the exception culturelle, which was introduced in the 1990s, is something I really like. It is the principle that there are certain kinds of sporting activities that are of such importance that they are about a shared experience and cannot be treated as commercial activities. That principle is seen, for example, in the fact that the broadcasting rights to the all-Ireland GAA finals can never be sold or made available on a pay-per-view basis, because those sporting events represent a cultural good everyone should be able to access. If we turn that on its head and look at the other side, we should not tolerate a situation where advertising of, and sponsorship by, gambling companies is in any way acceptable as a price for having sport in Ireland. We should recognise that sport has value, needs investment and support, and it is not acceptable to have it made simply a by-product of, or subject to, a commercial market in gambling. To do so damages the relationship we have with sport as a collective activity.

Others have spoken about loot boxes and the training of people in gambling and gaming behaviour. That is something we need to address. Related to that, we should consider moving away from the laudatory treatment of speculators, stock market investors and others who take big risks and gambles. We need to address the lionisation of that form of economic activity, as opposed to the kinds of economic activities engaged in by those who build businesses more slowly and steadily from the ground up. That is another way we can send a cultural signal to people, including children, around what should be valued in life.